Tight supplies shoot nearby corn higher

U.S. corn futures settled mixed Friday, with nearby futures up on concerns about tight current supplies.

Chicago Board of Trade July corn settled up 11 1/2 cents or 1.8% at $6.55 a bushel. December corn, a contract associated with supplies to be harvested this fall, fell 2 1/4 cents or 0.4% to $5.33 a bushel.

Cash markets are also strong across the Farm Belt as farmers are showing little interest in selling stored supplies at this time. Farmers are focused on wrapping up planting before looking to market their remaining supplies, analysts said.

Higher futures prices could lure more farmers to sell their stored corn.

"The market needs to kind of encourage some producer movement again," said Aaron Curtis, a commodity risk consultant with MID-CO Commodities in Bloomington, Ill.

The rise in July corn erased some of the contract's losses over the previous two sessions. July corn on Thursday had settled at a three-week closing low, attracting buyers on Friday who felt the grain was becoming undervalued.

But deferred corn futures ended lower, on expectations for a large U.S. harvest this fall. Current weather forecasts are mostly favorable for the corn crop, with mostly warm and wet conditions predicted over the next two weeks.

"Rains will once again spread across the Midwest through the weekend," MDA Weather Services said in a daily forecast note. "While these rains will slow [soybean] planting, they will also maintain ample moisture for corn and soybean germination and early growth across much of Midwest, especially northern and western areas."